clarke



Oct. 10, 1961 J. v. cLARKE 3,003,344

sTocxING Filed July 17, 1959 2 sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEPH V. CLARKE TTORNEY United States Patent O Filed July 17, 1959, Ser. No. 827,812 7 Claims. (CI. 66-172) My inventon relates' to' a' stocking of the type shown in Burd and Clarke Patent No. 2,814,938 of December 3, 1957.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved stocking of the type set fo'r'th.

In the patent referred to there is shown a roll edge stocling, that is, a stocling provided with an upper marginal portion which, if not restrained, will roll down upon itself. This eflect Was brought about by knitting said marginal portion of textile covered rubber. The roll referred to forms a core on which the fabric of the stocking could be further rolled down, thereby making it possible for the stockng to be worn full length, or at some point, at or above, the knee, or it can be worn knee high with the roll just below the knee.

The stocking disclosed in -my prior patent is satisfactory but textile covered yarn is relatively expensive, is hard to knit and presents an undesirable appearance when the necessarily thin textile covering Wears ol.

It is, therefore, a further object of the nvention to produce an improved roll edge stocking of the type referred to without the use of any rubber yarn.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in Which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stocking embodying the invention With the stocking worn at full length.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. l except that it shows the top marginal portion of the stocking rolled down.

FIG. 3 is an enlargement of the bracketed area in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary perspective views showing different ways in Which the yarns used in knitting the upper roll-down portion may be combined.

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on line 7-7 on FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing how the stocking may be worn knee-high or just below the knee.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a conventional stocking which includes a leg 10, a foot 12, a single thickness Welt 16, and an upper marginal portion 18 Which embodies my invention.

The marginal portion 18 of .my inventon is knit in the manner shown in FIG. 3 and, in one embodment thereof, it is formed of a monofilament yarn 20 which may be made of nylon, Dacron, rayon or other synthetic material, and Which is combined With a multi-iilament yarn 22 which may be |made of the same materials or of natural iibers such as silk as shown in FIG. 4. The mono-filament yarn is combined With a multi-filament because the mono-filament yarn, if used alone, will be too lively and will tend to roll too tightly for most purposes. But, When increased liveliness is desired, or is not objectionable, upper portion 13 may be knit of -mono-filament 20 exclusvely. The ratio of the denier of the monofilament yarn to the denier of the multifilament can vary and satisfactory results have been obtained by combining a 40 denier monofilament With a 70 denier multifilament yarn. But, experiments to date show that best results are obtained by combining a 40 denier monofilament yarn with a 50 denier multifilament yarn.

The mono-iilament and multi-filament yarns 20 and 22 may be twisted together Without the filaments of yarn 22 having first been twisted together, or the filaments of yarn 22 may be twisted together first and then twisted with the monofilament 20 as in FIG. 4. Alternately, the multifilaments may be twisted together and fed sidetby side with theI monofilament, asshown in FIG. 5 and a satisfactory roll edge may be produced by twisting together a number of mono-filaments 201, as shown in FIG. 6. Also, upper roll portion 18 may be knit of the plain sttches.` shown in FIG. 3 orof any other stitches,

In all embodments, When unrestrained, upper portion 18 will spontaneously roll dovm upon itself, as shown in FIG. 2, andv will spontaneously stop when it reaches the Welt of the stoeki'ng, if a Welt is used, or When it reaches the fabric of Ithe stockingitself, if the Welt is omitted. In other Words, only the marginal fabric knit of the combined mono and multifilaments as above set forth, Will roll upon itself and it will stop at its junction with a fabric knit of the conventional yarn in the conventional manner. In practice, the fabric of the Welt, When a Welt is used, is knit of a smaller denier yarn, such as a 70 denier, or less, multifilament yarn, compared to yarns from Which portion 18 is knit and which have a combined denier of 90. This, of course, does not prevent a person from rolling the Welt down to any point above the knee or from rolling the stocking down to the extent shown in FIG. 8, Which shows the stocking worn knee hig or below the knee. In fact, the bead formed by the spontaneous rolling of the upper portion '1-8 forms a core on which the adiacent portion of the stocking may be rolled more easily than if the roll is started With a flat edge.

Upper portion 18 may be of any desired Width, but is preferably not less than one-half inch and, if a welt s formed, it, also, may be of any desired Width and may be knit of any stitches, and of any yarns, because, as far as this invention is concerned, it is only necessary that the fabric adjoining roll portion 18 be knit of yarns of a different denier so as to limit the roll of upper portion 18 and, therefore, any narrow band of other knitting having a roll limiting characteristic Will suflice.

The presence of a thick bead, as exaggerately shown in FIG. 7, prevents the fabric therebelow from slipping through a garter if one is used, and the garter may be engaged With the roll itself instead of with the fabric therebelow.

A single thickness Welt is much less expensive to make than a double Welt but it has heretofore not found Wide acceptance in the trade because its upper edge tends to curl and wrnkle, and fold down or move away from the skin and thus presents au untidy appearance and is uncomfortable besides. The roll edge of the present invention and the roll edge of the Burd and Clarke patent above mentioned, finishes ofi:` the edge of a single thickness Welt in a very neat aud attractive manner. It also causes the upper edge of the Welt or stocking snugly, but comfortably, to hug the leg.

In order to provide a thick fabric for engagement With the supporting garter, it has heretofore been necessary to provide a double thickness Welt. But, by my invention, the roll portion can be engaged by the garter and the fabric of the stocking leg can be continued all the Way up to the lower edge of the roll portion 18 thus making it possible to eliminate the double thickness Welt and the shadow Welt usually interposed between the Welt and the stocking.

What I claim is:

1. A stocking including a leg portion and a single thickness, upper marginal portion terminating in a selvedge edge, the courses of said marginal portion being knit of a mono-filament yarn combined IWith a multifilament yarn whereby, when released, said marginal por- Vsaid monofilament is a synthetic yarn.

H' 13.? The structure recited inclaim 1 in which the dehier ofj the mono-filament is about equal to the dener' of the multifilamrent. Y Y

' 4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said monovfilam'ent: yam is synthetic and said multifilament yam is a natural fiber.

' '5; The` structure rected in clam 1 in which said monofilzarnent kyarn is from about 40 to about 50 denier and said multifilament yarn is of about 50 to about-70. denier. 4 l6.*The structurerecited in claim 1 in which the monofilament'- and the multi-filament yarns are synthetic.

f* 4'7,.1A stockng including alower porton for enclosng the 'leg and the knee, and an upper, single thickness, margin-al porton, the courses of said upper portion being knit of a lnfiorio-filamentyarnfcombined with a multi-filament which said lower portion is knit whereby, When unrei strained, said upper marginal portion rolls down to form a bead at the upper edge of said lower portion.`

References Cted in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,042,582 Bofis June 2, 1936 Y 2,332,738 Meade Oct. 26, 1943 2,574,737 Goodchild Nov. 13, 1951 2,636,369 Tait Apr. 28, 19-53 2,795,123 i Schumann June 11, 1957 2,852,834 Engelhard Sept. 23, 1958 2,853,865 McDonough Sept. 30, 1958 A vFOREIGN PAENTS 564,278 Canada v Oct. 7,. 1958 

